Nature of the Environment - Goudie

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Auteur(s) : Goudie

Editeur : Blackwell Publishers

Langue : Anglais

Parution : 07/05/2001

Format : Petit, de 0 à 350g

ISBN : 9780631200697

Résumé :

The fourth edition of this highly acclaimed text on the natural environment of the earth has now been thoroughly revised and updated and includes a new chapter on The Organic World, more windows, new illustrations, and a range of other features.

Please visit the accompanying website at: www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/goudie to view sample material from both the new edition and forthcoming instructor's manual online.

• Fully updated with an entirely new chapter, and new features throughout.
• Now features a list of key concepts and points for review.
• Includes increased number of windows, updated and expanded reading guides, and new plates and diagrams.
• Well illustrated with updated examples and case studies.
• Puts more stress on the importance of hazards, natural environmental changes, and human impacts.

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Biographie:
Andrew Goudie is Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford and a former Pro-Vice Chancellor. He is holder of the Royal Geographical Society's Founder's Medal and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society's Mungo Park Medal. He is a Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford.
His previous books include The Human Impact 5e (Blackwell, 1999), The Human Impact Reader (Blackwell,1997) , The Earth Transformed (Blackwell, 1997), and The Changing Earth (Blackwell, 1995). He is co-editor of The Students Companion to Geography (Blackwell, 1992) and The Dictionary of Physical Geography 3e (Blackwell, 2000)...

Sommaire:
Preface.

Acknowledgements.

Part I: The Global Framework:.

1. Global Geological Background.

The Ancient Earth.

Core, Mantle and Crust.

The Nature of the Ocean Floors.

The Surface of the Land.

Earthquakes.

The Shape of the Continents.

The Question of Plates.

Microplates and Exotic Terraces.

The Earth's Rock Types.

The Subdivisions of the Earth's History.

Conclusions.

Key Terms and Concepts.

Points for Review.

Further Reading for Chapter 1.

2. Global Climatic Background.

A Vertical Profile Through the Atmosphere.

Global Climate.

World Patterns of Precipitation.

World Patterns of Temperature.

The Major Climatic Zones.

The Hydrological Cycle.

Ocean Currents.

Ocean Atmosphere Interactions.

Climatic Change.

Causes Long-Term Climatic Change.

Sea-Level Changes.

Future Climates.

Conclusions.

Key Terms and Concepts.

Points for Review.

Further Reading for Chapter 2.

3. The Organic World.

Major Vegetation Types.

Human Modifications of Major Vegetation Types.

Floral Realms.

Faunal Realms.

The World's Great Soil Orders.

Human Modifications of Soil.

Climatic Geomorphology: The Influence of Climate, Soil and Vegetation.

Key Terms and Concepts.

Points for Review.

Further Reading for Chapter 3.

Part II: Major World Zones:.

4. Cold Environments.

Polar Climates.

Vegetation and Wildlife.

Glacier Types.

The Formation of Glacier Ice.

How Glaciers Move.

Glacial Erosion.

Glacial Deposits.

Glacier Ice and Sea-Level Changes.

Permafrost.

Ground Ice.

Thermokarst.

Ice Segregation and Frost Heaving.

Frost Shattering and Soil Formation.

Slope Processes, Avalanches and River Regimes.

Key Terms and Concepts.

Points for Review.

Further Reading for Chapter 4.

5. The Mid-latitudes.

The Westerlies.

Cyclones and Anticyclones.

Air Masses.

Cool Temperate Climates.

Western Margin Warm Temperate Climates (The Mediterranean Type).

Eastern Margin Warm Temperate Climates.

Boreal Forest.

Deciduous Forests.

Mid-Latitude Grasslands.

Mediterranean Evergreen Woodlands.

Soils of Cool Temperate Climates.

Soils of Warm Temperate Climates.

The Impact of Climatic Change on the Landscape.

Loess Sheets.

Dry Valleys and Mis Fit Stream.

Tors.

Natural Hazards in Western Europe.

Key Terms and Concepts.

Points for Review.

Further Reading for Chapter 5.

6. Deserts.

Introduction.

What Causes Aridity?.

Desert Rainfall.

Desert Temperatures.

Past Climates in Deserts.

Desert Vegetation and Animals.

Soils and Surface Materials.

Insolation and Salt Weathering.

Wind Action in Deserts.

Sand Deposition - Dunes.

The Work of Rivers.

Desert Slopes.

Dams, Reservoirs and Inter-Basin Water Transfer.

Land Degradation.

Problems of the Desert Realm.

Key Terms and Concepts.

Points for Review.

Further Reading for Chapter 6.

7. The Tropics.

The General Atmospheric Circulation.

The Wet Tropics.

Tropical Season Climates.

Monsoons.

Tropical Disturbances.

Tropical Rainforests.

Secondary Forest.

Tropical Seasonal Forest and Savannah.

Mangrove Swamps.

Coral Reefs.

Weathering of Rocks.

Slope Movements.

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